153 Argilla Road, the Isaac Goodale House (1670)

The earliest section of this colonial home was built in West Peabody in approximately 1670 by Isaac and Patience Cook Goodale. In 1928 it was reconstructed at 153 Argilla Road near Russell Orchards in Ipswich by Robert Lincoln and Susan Goodale.

Most first-story summer beams run in a longitudinal direction from the end-to chimney-girt but in this house we find transverse summer beams on the first floor, functioning as binding beams. The first-story transverse summer is almost exclusively an Essex county phenomenon. The house is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places.

View a slide show of the house, grounds and interior provided by Kristal Pooler and Associates.

Historical Narrative

According to tradition, Robert Goodale moved from Salem to what is now Peabody in 1669 and built the house for his son Isaac shortly thereafter. Stylistic features suggest a construction date closer to 1700, however. The owner of the house in the early 18th century, Samuel Goodale, is listed in Salem records as a carpenter.

The house remained in the hands of the Goodale family until November, 1915, 246 years later, when it was conveyed to Charles R. Stackpole of Nahant by Jacob Oscar Goodale. In December 1915 it passed to Walter H. Southwick of Nahant, and then, in April of 1918, onto Lyman G. Smith of Cambridge. After Mr. Smith’s death, it was conveyed in September of 1921 to Josephine Turck, a widow.

In January. 1929. Robert Lincoln Goodale, a practicing physician and collateral descendant of the original owners, bought the house for sentimental reasons and for its preservation. The house was dissembled and moved to its present location in Ipswich in the summer of 1929, and rebuilding and restoring the house to First Period appearance was undertaken by carpenter Eugene Dow. Dr. and Mrs. Robert Goodale were representative of a number of owners on the north shore who purchased and restored First Period buildings for summer homes or permanent residences. The restoration was, by early 20th century standards, a careful one and a significant example of the early 20th century restoration movement. No materials were brought in from other old buildings and where historical material was missing, replacement materials replicated those already existing in the house.

In 1990 the owners established a preservation restriction agreement (“covenant”) for this house with the Ipswich Historical Commission, protecting the house from demolition by present and future owners, and protecting following elements: front and rear facades, stone steps, windows, frame, roof, fireplaces, doors, sheathing, cornices, staircases, and girts. The land surrounding the house is also protected by a conservation agreement with the Essex County Greenbelt Association.